1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cleaner such as a hard floor cleaning unit. In particular, the present application pertains to such a hard floor cleaning unit having a brush assembly that can be selectively lowered on the floor for scrubbing the floor and raised off the floor when scrubbing is not desired.
2. Background Information
It is known in the prior art to provide a hard or bare floor cleaning unit equipped with a brush assembly for scrubbing the surface of hard or bare floors. Often, it would be desirable to have the option to either operate the cleaning unit to scrub the floor or not scrub the floor. Moreover, it would also be desirable to automatically energize the brush motor to turn on the brush assembly for scrubbing upon the brush assembly being lowered on the floor.
Hence it is an object of the present invention to provide a cleaning unit with brush assembly that can be selectively lowered on a floor for scrubbing and raised off the floor when scrubbing the floor is not desired.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a cleaning unit with brush assembly that can be automatically turned on for scrubbing upon being lowered on the floor.
The foregoing and other objects of the present invention will be readily apparent from the following description and the attached drawings. In one embodiment of the present invention, a floor cleaning device comprises a base portion for movement along a surface. The base portion further includes a suction nozzle and a brush assembly driven by a brush motor for agitating the surface. The brush assembly includes a lifting mechanism for moving the brush assembly from a first position wherein the brush assembly is off the surface to a second position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface. A switching assembly is responsive to the brush lifting mechanism to energize the brush motor when the brush assembly is in the second position on the surface.
In another aspect of the invention, a floor cleaning device for cleaning a surface is provided. The floor cleaning device comprises a base portion including a suction nozzle. A brush assembly is associated with the base portion. A lifting mechanism is operatively connected to the brush assembly for moving the brush assembly relative to the suction nozzle from a first position wherein the brush assembly is off the surface to a second position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface. A slide switch slidably mounted on the floor cleaning device and operatively connected to the brush assembly, wherein the slide switch is slid to a first sliding position to move the brush assembly to one of the first and second positions.
In another aspect of the invention, a floor cleaning device for cleaning a surface is provided. The floor cleaning device comprises a base portion for movement along a surface. The base portion includes a suction nozzle. A brush assembly is associated with the base portion. A lifting mechanism is operatively connected to the brush assembly for moving the brush assembly relative to the suction nozzle from a first position wherein the brush assembly is off the surface to a second position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface. A nozzle lifting mechanism is operatively connected to the base portion for raising the suction nozzle off of the surface. A locking mechanism is operatively connected between the brush lifting mechanism and the nozzle lifting mechanism to lock the brush assembly in the first position when the suction nozzle is raised off of the surface.
In still another aspect of the invention, a floor cleaning device for cleaning a surface is provided. The floor cleaning device comprises a base portion for movement along a surface. The base portion includes a suction nozzle. A brush assembly is associated with the base portion. The brush assembly comprises a plurality of vertically axis brushes. Each of the brushes is configured as a spur gear having gear teeth wherein the gear teeth of each brush drivingly intermesh with the gear teeth of adjacent brushes. Each of the brushes comprise a first group of bristles extending a first distance radially outward from the vertical axis and a second group of bristles being formed in the center of each brush and extending a second distance radially outward from the vertical axis.
In still another aspect of the invention, a floor cleaning device for cleaning a surface is provided. The floor cleaning device comprises a base portion for movement along a surface. The base portion includes a suction nozzle. A brush assembly is associated with the base portion. A lifting mechanism is operatively connected to the brush assembly for moving the brush assembly relative to the suction nozzle from a first position wherein the brush assembly is off the surface to a second position wherein the brush assembly is on the surface. The brush assembly comprises a plurality of vertically axis brushes. Each of the brushes is configured as a spur gear having gear teeth wherein the gear teeth of each brush drivingly intermesh with the gear teeth of adjacent brushes.